When Harry and Thomas woke up they ate their breakfast and told Eric that he would need to wash the clothing that they would be wearing tonight.

Eric did all of his chores and before he knew it Charlotte, Thomas, and Harry were leaving.

Charlotte was obviously excited because she was shoving her sons out the door. Eric was disgusted by them.

They acted all high class and important when really they were just another average person in the village. Charlotte says They don't have money, yet she rented a carriage.

Suddenly, Eric had an idea. He ran so his father's old room and opened up a box of his old clothes. He sorted through everything until he found the perfect shirt,pants, and shoes.

He took a bath to wash off all of the dirt and mud. He combed all of the tangles out of his dark hair and put on the clothes that he had found.

He looked at himself in the mirror. He didn't even recognize himself with fresh clothes and without dirt in his hair.

He opened up the door and rushed down the street. Eric knew that he didn't have the invitation he needed to get into the ball, but he told himself that he could sneak in without being detected.

He ran down the road that led to the castle. He searched for a place to enter, but the guards were watching every possible entrance. Eric lost hope of going to the ball.

He wandered around the castle grounds for a while until he found a garden. He explored that for a while. He knew that he should be getting home, but home meant more chores. More being yelled at.

He turned a corner and saw a willow tree and under it, was a girl in the most beautiful dress he had ever seen.

When she saw him, she was startled at first. "Aren't you supposed to be inside at the ball?" she asked him.

At first, Eric didn't know what to say "You're the princess."

Thalia just chuckled "Yes. I know what you are thinking. I should be inside, dancing with some prince. But I'm sick of it! I had to dance with the most awful people tonight. One woman asked me to dance with one of her sons. She reeked of perfume and her son didn't smell any better."

"Wait," Eric said "What was the woman's name? And her sons."

"Uh, I think her name was Carrie or... Wait! It was Charlotte. Her sons were Thomas and Harold or something like that. Why did you want to know?" Thalia said.

"Those are my step brothers and mother. I am sorry they treated you wrong. I should be going now." Eric said to her as he started to leave.

"I'm so sorry I had no idea that was your family." Thalia said.

He shrugged "They aren't much of a family." he told her. He was surprised by how nice she was. He expected the princess to be more proper and uptight.

"Wait!" Thalia called as Eric was leaving "I have had the most horrible night. It would really cheer me up if a had someone kinder to dance with. Come on, let's go inside."

Eric followed her out of the garden and into the castle. "I'm not the greatest dancer" he told her.

"It doesn't matter. What is your name?" Thalia replied. "I am Eric." he said.

"I mean, what is your full name?" she asked again. "Eric James Smith." he replied

They started to dance and Eric had never been happier.. The only problem was, they would never see each other again. After tonight he would go back to doing chores all day and thinking about his miserable life all night.

Thalia got many offers to dance from other, richer men but she refused and danced with Eric for the rest of the night.

Eric looked up at the large clock and read the time. "I have to go." he told Thalia.